


Constant Changes

by bluby



Category: Splatoon, coroika - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Child Neglect, Crippling Depression, Eating Disorders, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, but just assume hes on the team ok? thx, not much other than that bc idk wtf is going on in my own goddamn fic, posting this on mobile like a dumbass so ill have to edit this later, prince’s age doesnt make much sense here, theyre just briefly mentioned dw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluby/pseuds/bluby
Summary: As anyone would know, there are a lot of things that can go wrong when you’re given a dose of popularity. Not everyone can handle it. Not everyone can live with the spotlight on them every waking second of their life. Not everyone can deal with the fact that there are people who want to see them crash and burn. Some people just can’t take it. It’s just fate. Different people are suited to different things, and that’s the way it always will be. There are a few inklings who are just like this, and among them, there was Eging Jr. He was the most outgoing squid on Team Monarch. The acrobatic blaster main everyone knew him as. He was the least popular of the team, but that didn’t get to him. He was too busy focusing on practice, school, and friends. He kept a smile on his face and kept moving.
Relationships: Eging Jr. | Squidkid Jr./Emperor
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

The day started early, like it always did on weekdays. He dragged himself out of bed, brushed his teeth, got dressed in literally whatever, and headed downstairs. The bags under his eyes were visible, and made his mask sag a bit. Nothing you couldn’t fix with makeup, though! His nanny yelled something at him he didn’t pay attention to and sat down at the table in the kitchen for breakfast.

“Your father is coming home today, Jr! Cheer up a bit!” The lady placed a plate of hot pancakes in front of him. He wasn’t hungry. Not to mention the fact he was so dizzy he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face. If he put anything into his stomach, he was sure he would expel it in minutes. His phone buzzed with more texts from the team that he hasn’t read in weeks. He hasn’t talked to them in person for a long while either. He wanted to speak to them, he really did! He just didn’t have the energy to do so. He kept telling himself he was going to do it, but never did. The neverending guilt piled up higher, and higher, like jenga blocks. And just like jenga blocks, eventually it would topple.

“I think I’ll walk to school today, Miss,” Eging stood up, and pocketed his phone. Blood rushed to his head immediately, blurring his vision, and making him feel nauseous. This was just like any other morning for him, so he was used to it by now. Dismissing that, and trying hard not to collapse, he made his way to the door, putting on a light jacket, and slinging on his bookbag. The walk to school wasn’t very long, but he still dreaded doing it, especially in his weakened condition. Doing simple tasks was always difficult for him now. He couldn’t remember the last time he could do anything that required effort without being filled with pain or discouragement. 

He couldn’t remember when these horrid physical feelings started. He couldn’t remember the last time he could do things normally. There was something wrong, but it wasn’t like Eging would ever admit it. He was fine. He was always fine. He was the fun, happy smiley guy! Nothing could ever be wrong with him! He pulled his hood over his head, trying to make sure no one would recognize him. Even in that sense, he wasn’t sure anyone would recognize him without his hood on. He had lost a noticeable amount of weight in the past few weeks, and it was starting to reach every aspect of himself. His face was hollowed out, his skin was hauntingly grey, the smile that filled his entire face didn’t meet his eyes anymore... If the rest of his team saw him, he’d have no idea what to say.

When he arrived at school, Eging tried to ignore the other inklings who were calling at him, and yelling names. He didn’t really understand how it got to be this way. A few months ago, everyone at least treated him decently. He just tried to walk to class without having to visit the school counselor again.

“Good morning Eging,” His homeroom teacher said to him, smiling. He ignored her and sat at his seat and put his head down. His entire body ached, and he could barely stay awake. The walk here had already taken enough of a toll on him. Maybe it would be okay if he rested his eyes for a little bit... 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to pay attention in class, or if he was slacking off because of laziness- It was because he literally physically couldn’t do it. He was so behind in all of his classes, it wasn’t even close to being laughable. Every time he missed another assignment, or got another shitty grade, he couldn’t come up with any excuse. What was he supposed to tell his teachers? That he spent the entire day thinking about doing it and eventually having an anxiety attack? As if. Thank God it was a Friday.

He managed to get through the school day, barely. He threw up his lunch of half an apple into the toilet in the middle of it, but yeah, he made it through. He already knew how the rest of the day was going to go. Badly. But what he didn’t know was that his dad was at school to pick him up.

“Dad?” He furrowed his brows, confused. He didn’t want anyone to see his dad at school! It would draw too much attention to him! Compared to his dad, he was practically nothing. He pulled his hoodie farther over his head. It was already far too late to disguise himself now, everyone was staring. Everyone was laughing. Instead of cheering for him like they would on any other day before this, they were making a fool out of him.

“Hey kiddo!” Eging Sr waved at him, gesturing for him to walk over to the car. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you! Ain’t ya glad I’m here?”

Eging Jr sighed, and walked towards the car. He sat in the backseat, feeling embarrassed. His dad knew him as the cool kid on Team Monarch! Not as the boring inkling in your economics class that never talks to anyone and has the lowest grades.

With a large grin on his face, The senior Eging sat in the driver’s seat of the car, strapping himself up. “You okay, kid?” Eging Sr fixed the rear view mirror so he could see Eging Jr’s face. “You haven’t said a word since you’ve seen me!”

Eging Jr looked down, with a frown darkening his features. It wasn’t that he was mad, or anything, he just didn’t know what to say. How could he tell his dad that he was suffering on the inside without getting ridiculed for being weak? “I’m fine,” He muttered, barely loud enough for his dad to hear him. His phone buzzed again. It was probably Prince or Emperor. They got off of school around the same time Jr did. He checked the texts, just so he wouldn’t have to speak with his dad. He missed a lot of messages from the group chat, but also from the individuals of the team. He checked Prince’s texts first. They were mostly asking him if he was alright, and if the team should come and see him. It was the same with N-Pacer too. He wasn’t able to check Emperor’s because his dad started speaking to him about his won games and sponsorships, like he usually did.

“We’re home,” Eging Sr said, parking the car. “There are a lot of things we have to talk about, just a head’s up.” 

That didn’t sit very well with Eging Jr. The last thing he needed was his dad getting angry with him. He wasn’t sure if he could take any heavy emotional experiences without fainting.

On the way up to the apartment, Jr checked Emperor’s texts. There were a lot more of them from him than from Pacer and Prince. Eging felt bad, but at the same time, helpless.

“Your counselor called to tell me about your grades,” Eging Sr spoke, breaking the quiet. The elevator on the way up to the penthouse was long, and Eging Jr was already hating it. “He said that you’re failing the majority of your classes.”

“That doesn’t really matter,” Eging Jr said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. “I mean, I can just do turf with Emperor and everyon-”

Eging Sr interrupted. “If you’re really focusing on turf, how come you’re so bony?” He half-seriously-half playfully poked Jr in his side. The boy flinched. “I have Emp’s dad calling me and telling me that they’ve had to find a replacement for you in training ‘cause your lazy ass isn’t out there practicing!”

_ Fuck _ .

“Are you alright, kid?” Eging Sr placed his hands on Jr’s shoulders, forcing them to be face to face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! You know you can talk to me anytime you need to, y’know.”

Eging Jr avoided eye contact with his dad, panicking even more. His fight or flight response activated, and he shoved his dad’s hands off of him. “Leave me alone. It’s not like you care what’s good for me. I don’t even know what you want from me. It’s not like I’m gonna want to speak to you. I barely even know you, with how much you’re out all the goddamned time.” He had chosen a fight response. It wasn’t like him to be rude to his dad, but he was afraid of what would happen next if he didn’t react properly. “It’s like I don’t know anyone at all.” 

The elevator doors opened, and Jr stormed out. It was hard for him to stay calm, and he really wasn’t. He was just so tired and sickly that he would pass out if he used up all his energy to express unnecessary emotions. He flung the door to the apartment open, shoved off his jacket and shoes, stormed through the living room, and rushed up the stairs into his room. He locked the door behind him, threw his backpack into a corner of his room, and laid on his bed. He put his hands over his face. He wondered how it got to be this way, for the 30th time today. His phone buzzed again.

Eging checked his phone this time. It was a text from Emperor.

**Emp:** _ I know you might not feel up to it at all, but could we please talk? The team wants to know how you’re feeling... Please tell me you’re not dead.. _ .

Eging didn’t want to trouble Emperor more than he already was, so he texted back.

**You:** _uh… sorry for not talking 2 u all this time…….. i havent been feeling too good plus my dad is back lmao_

Emperor started typing. Eging sighed a breath of relief.

**Emp:** _Your father is visiting you_?

 **You:** _ya i just said so_

 **Emp:** _Can I call you?_

 **You:** _ok_

Eging bit his lip, and picked up the call before his phone could ring.

“Hello?” Emperor said, his voice in a hushed tone.

“Hey.” Eging croaked. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “I mean, hey… What did you wanna talk about..?”

“There are... a lot of things I want to say to you right now. But at the same time, I’m satisfied with hearing your voice...”

“That’s gay.”

“Shut up.” Emperor audibly sucked air in through his teeth, and started to speak again. “How have you been, Eging? It’s like you’ve disappeared…”

“I don’t really know what happened either…” Eging shrugged. “Everything just started to feel really stressful, so I stopped doing stuff. It’s easier to stay in bed and do nothing than go out.”

“That’s not healthy, Jr,” Emperor sounded worried. “You can’t stay inside all day and never leave… What about the team?”

“I mean-”

A rap of knocks were heard from the door or Eging’s room. He froze, his hearts’ rates increasing and the same feeling of panic from before was coming back.

“Someone’s at the door. Sorry Emp, gotta go.” Eging hung up, and got out of his bed, rushing to the door to answer it. He hoped it was his nanny wanting to bring him snacks and not his dad wanting to confront him.

To his demise, he opened the door to his dad, who was in fact, wanting to confront him.

“I just wanna talk to you,” The larger inkling said. “I’m sorry if I upset you earlier, but there are things we have to talk about. We can’t ignore them forever.”

Jr wanted to disagree, but his dad was right. He let him in, and turned on the light. Only in the light did he realize how messy his room really was.

Ignoring the mess, Eging Sr sat at the desk near the window, and clasped his hands together. He took a calm breath in, and closed his eyes. “Kid, what do you want to do with your life?” He asked. “What makes you happy?”

“I dunno.” Eging Jr responded, shrugging. Now wasn’t really the right time to talk to him about this, because he wasn’t really in a state where he could make proper decisions. It wasn’t like either of the two in the room knew that, though.

“If that’s the case… I’ll give you a choice.” Eging Sr looked up to Eging Jr, his face unchanging. “You can choose to stay here, in Inkopolis, and stay with your friends, and focus on school, but no turf until you graduate.”

“ _ Dad! _ ” Eging Jr groaned. What kind of choice was that? “You can’t not allow me to play turf anymore!  _ That isn’t fair _ !”

“I’m not done yet,” Eging Sr said, putting a hand up, gesturing for Jr to calm himself. “Or, you can choose to go to a private school, and get training for turf war, and all other variations. You can turf to your heart’s content.” This sounded like a much better decision to Eging Jr, and he thought about it. Eging Sr began to speak again. 

“That school’s real far away though, so you’ll have to say goodbye to your friends for a while…”

“What?” The boy asked in disbelief. “But I can’t leave the team! They need me!”

“If you had thought about that, we wouldn’t have to make this choice, Junior.” Eging Sr sighed, and leaned back in the chair where he sat. It creaked, threatening to break under his weight. “I only want the best for ya, y’know? It hurts me to see you in this kinda state… It also hurts me when I see your god awful grades…” Eging Sr rolled his eyes playfully, attempting to lighten up the atmosphere. “But you have to choose, kid. It’s a change for the better.”

Eging Jr debated the choices in his head for a bit. He could think about it as much as he wanted, but… He couldn’t just make a decision like this and not tell the team! But, at the same time, it wasn’t like he would be able to sum up the courage to tell them… He hadn’t spoken to them in ages! How would he be able to stand in front of them and present himself! He barely even looked like their old friend anymore! Regardless, he couldn’t make a decision like this without letting his team know.

“I think.. I’ll have to ask everyone else…” Eging Jr mumbled, hoping his dad heard him. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to not let them know…”

“Alright then!” Eging Sr stood up from the small chair. “Get back to me when you make up your mind. I’ll go and rest since travelling is a huge pain.”

The senior Eging left the room without saying a word, his face returning to its usual serious and uncaring expression. Eging Jr knew that he got lucky today. Any other day and he would have been hit. Or worse.

Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he moved for his phone to call Emperor back. As fast as he could, he opened up his contacts list, and called him back.

“Did you finish speaking with your father?” Was what Emperor asked immediately upon picking up the call. He sounded anxious. “Did it go well? Did he hurt you? What did he say?”

“I’m fine,” Eging answered. He heard a sigh of relief through the phone. If he was his old self, he would have laughed, but he was not who he used to be. He savoured the care Emperor had for him. “But I don’t think you’ll like what my dad told me… I don’t think Prince or Pacey would, either.” He smiled a little bit at how he called N-Pacer ‘Pacey’; it was a small fragment of himself he was happy to have grasped before losing it forever.

“Well… What is it?” Emperor inquired. He still sounded worried, but that was to be expected of him. He was hearing from a friend he hadn’t heard in literal months.

“My dad gave me an ultimatum,” Eging started. He spoke very slowly. “He said that I could either quit doing ink sports and focus on school… or go to a boarding school very far away to focus on becoming a turf professional.”

It took Emperor a few moments to take in what the other inkling had said.

“That’s,” He couldn’t think of the right thing to say. “Utterly ridiculous.” Finally the words came out. “How could he force you to make such a decision? That’s just plain unfair! I would love to have a word with him, but just thinking about the way your father acts gives me migraines.”

Eging almost wanted to laugh. Almost. His friend’s concern made him feel a little better. In fact, it felt like he had just a bit more energy for once. Was this what he had been missing this whole time? He had just been in desperate need for someone to support him? Well… it was not as though any of these thoughts had ran through his head, but they were definitely what could have been.

“That’s exactly what I tried to tell him! But he’s such a massive asshole he didn’t want to listen to a single thing I said!” Eging nearly found himself becoming exhausted at expressing his intense feelings over the phone. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Emperor… I can’t just live without you or without turf… They make me who I am. I’d be lost…”

The situation was unbearably pathetic. Eging couldn’t even feel sorry for himself. This was all his fault. He had already thought that his life couldn’t get worse from where it was right now. But wait, if he focused on school instead of turf, that would only be for two years because of how he was already in junior year! But with that, there was the risk of being permanently replaced and never being able to join back with Team Monarch. Well, the risk was the same for if he went to the private school. This was a lose/lose situation, really. In the end, he just wanted to be back with his team again. He wanted to go back to having fun with his team all the time. He wanted to go back to winning turf wars with them. He wanted to go back to being close with them. He missed his team so much. Oh, so very much. So much that he just wanted to cry.

“It’s going to be okay, Eging.” Emperor could hear the sadness in his voice. He immediately started to feel especially bad for his friend. “Perhaps we should talk about the next move we should make with the rest of the team. Besides, Prince and N-Pacer will definitely be relieved to hear from you.”

A soft “Yeah…” was all that Eging could respond with. He felt so miserable, and it wasn’t only from the way his state had been weakened from the past months’ slump. For another time today, Eging wondered how it ever got to be this way. What caused him to become the mess he was. A tidal wave of self loathing washed over him, and he could only ever distinguish it as his own fault.

“I’ll call them to tell them that we can meet up at my house this evening,” Emperor said, snapping Eging out of his thoughts. “We can all discuss this as a team then, and help you choose what decision to make. I’ll have my driver come and pick you up, if you would like.”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright.” A snap was heard over the receiver. “Be ready by 4 o clock, then. I’ll message you later, Eging.”

Emperor ended the phone call, and Eging’s room was filled with silence. He wanted to feel excited about going to meet the rest of Team Mmonarch for the first time in months, but he could only feel anxious about what was to come. They would finally see him in his sad, pathetic state. They would see how much weight and muscle mass he had lost, and pity him. He didn’t want their pity. He just wanted to go back to being their normal team again.

Forcing the will to get out of bed into his bones, he stood up from his lying position and stretched. Doing a simple thing such as stretching shouldn’t have been especially tiring, but Eging was running on barely anything now. He was also terribly dizzy upon standing, and felt like he was going to just collapse. Maybe when he got to Emp’s house he could have a proper meal without having to throw it all up a few minutes later? He felt a small bit of hope flicker inside his heart, but only for a moment. Sighing, he turned off the lights in his room, and left.

“Dad, I’m leaving to go to Emperor’s place!” Eging yelled from the living room. There was no response. Typical of his dad to not care about him until he wanted to boss him around. He almost wanted to get angry, but he didn’t have the energy for that. He picked up the jacket he had thrown off from earlier, and pulled it on. He stepped into his shoes, and took his copy of the key to the penthouse from his jacket pocket. He checked the time on his phone. It was 3:40 PM. Knowing how Emperor always liked to be early, he knew that the driver would be coming by 3:50.

“Good afternoon, Jr,” The driver greeted Eging as he got into the car. “Long time no see, huh?” He wore a small, but friendly smile on his face. That was something that Eging had not seen in a long time. The familiarity of that smile sent a pang of pain into his chest. That was how Pacer had used to smile at him whenever they both had nothing to say with words. Even though smiles barely ever cracked through her usual poker-face, those rare times when she did were what Eging had missed so much. He wondered if she had been smiling lately.

Eging quietly nodded, not quite knowing what to say. If he were his old self, he would have kept up conversation with the driver, but now he hated talking to people because of his fear of how they would react to his strained voice.

He spent the entirety of the car ride to the Emperor's house in complete silence. When they had finally arrived, though, that was when he started getting cold feet.

_ They’re probably going to laugh at me. They’ll be horrified about how I look. They’ll probably tell me all about how awesome their replacement for me is. Do they even care about me anymore? _

He was too distracted by his thoughts to realise that he had already gotten out of the car and walked all the way to Emperor’s doorstep. Deep down, maybe, he actually really really wanted to see them. He rang the doorbell and waited. Almost immediately, Emperor came to open the door and greet him. His face was frenzied with distress. When he had seen Eging’s state, his expression dropped.

“Hello Eging,” He spoke softly. Softer than Eging has ever heard him speak before. Maybe his tone was like that because he was seeing him for the first time in ages? Or maybe because of how he looked? Perhaps both. “You look so different…”

There and then, Eging broke down. He couldn’t stop the tears from coming out of his face. While he felt utterly embarrassed and ashamed at his appearance, he felt a little bit of relief. He was relieved that he had the chance to see his friend again. Relieved that he had this chance. Relieved that he was standing in front of Emperor right now. All these months he thought that he would never be able to do such a thing, and here he was. It was unreal.

Emperor took a step forward to take Eging into a soft embrace. It was gentle and warm. Eging was too numb to return the gesture. Emperor was okay with that.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I know it was hard for you,” he reassured him.

“I’m so sorry…” was all that Eging could choke out. “I don’t know what happened to me…” He held back a sob by biting his lip. He couldn’t remember the last time he let himself cry like this. It had been so long, and now all the feelings were overwhelming. He snaked an arm out of the hug to wipe the tears from his face. He didn’t want to look weak for too long.

“Sorry for looking like shit,” He spoke, his voice a raspy whisper. “I didn’t really think about fixing myself up before I came here… I was just excited to see you for the first time in forever.”

Emperor looked up at him with a smile that would have been indecipherable if he had given that look to someone who wasn’t Eging.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I was excited to see you too, you know.” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together into a thin line, thinking. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again.

“Prince and N-Pacer are waiting for us in the dining room,” he said. “We should join them.”

Getting himself together, Eging nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

The two entered the large dining room, greeted by two other inklings playing cards at the far end of the table. There was one light turned on in the room, giving it a dim, warm, and home-y effect. The two inklings were none other than Emperor’s younger brother, Prince, and their family friend, N-Pacer. Prince smiled meekly at the two who had just entered, and Pacer kept her signature poker-face.

Emperor and Eging walked past all the other chairs to sit next to them at the end of the table.

“Hi, Eging!” Prince greeted. “We haven’t seen you in such a long time! Have you been okay?” He put a hand to his chin and his face was painted with an expression of concern.

Pacer also turned her head to Eging’s direction to speak.

“I must say that I’ve been very worried.” She put her cards onto the table face down. “You weren’t answering any of our texts. I would have come over to see you if your father wasn’t so against it at times.”

Eging sighed at that. Of course it was his father that was involved in all of this somehow. He always tried to worm himself into his personal affairs. Forgetting that fact, his face softened from disgruntlement into content at the sight of his friends, and then melted into a teary smile, because  _ God! He was actually seeing his friends! _ He rose up from his seat to give both Prince and Pacer a hug which surprised the two of them. His grip was very light due to how weak he was from not eating well the past few months, but he didn’t care. He was happy to see them.

“You’re practically skin and bones!” Prince exclaimed, eyes widening at the feeling of Eging’s surprise hug. He could feel the older boy’s ribcage rub against his chest! “When was the last time you ate a proper meal?”

“Can’t remember.” Eging replied, letting go of the two of them. He became aware of his weakness, only shortly after the embrace, he started feeling extremely fatigued. He found himself having to sit down because he felt like he was going to fall over. “I haven’t really had an appetite lately.”

“And that’s okay,” Emperor said, picking up a tray of Panache that he had made just for this event. He didn’t usually cook, but when he did, it wasn’t half bad. “I made these for you, because I know how much you used to like them.”

Annnnnd the tears were about to start falling again. Pacer scooted closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder when she noticed.

“It’s okay to cry, Jr,” she said gently. “We won’t judge you.”

Surprisingly, tears started slipping out of her eyes too. She sloppily wiped them away from her face.

“I… We missed you a lot, you know that, right?” Pacer sat up straight. She tried her best to smooth herself out. “We… We were genuinely worried, and I was hoping that your father hadn’t done the worst to you.”

Eging became very sad at that statement. He almost didn’t notice Prince holding his other hand.

“We’re just happy that you’re back, Eging!” Prince said. His voice was cracking. He was also trying not to cry. “Please, don’t leave like that again...”

That was when Emperor put down the tray and walked around the table to envelop everyone there into a hug. He laughed.

“Alright everyone, that’s enough moping around,” he said playfully. “As your team leader, I order everyone to have some of this shrimp and caviar panache that I spent so very, very hard working on.”

That was when Eging laughed for the first time in ages. He enjoyed eating the meal with his team.

When everyone had finished eating, they moved to the second-floor living room, where they used to have team meetings back when their schedule was normal. It felt a lot more comfortable to have conversations up here than in a large echoey room.

“So, yeah… My dad said that I could either stay in Inkopolis and hang out with you guys while focusing on school without being able to play turf, or leaving to go to an ink-sport academy.” Eging looked down into his lap, unable to make eye-contact with the rest of his team. He felt like a doctor telling their patient that they were going to die in the next month. But at least he got it off of his chest instead of making up some insane lie.

“That’s totally unfair!” Prince said. “How come he won’t just let you get back on the team?! It’s not like we won’t let you, or something!”

“Well, I guess it’s because of this.” Eging rolled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal his bony arm. All the muscle he had spent years acquiring had deteriorated from months of unuse. He didn’t know how quickly depression could cause his muscles to atrophy.

“I’m no longer in shape to do turfing with you guys. I’d have better chances of buffing up quickly if I went to that school, or if I did rigorous training outside of what we usually do together.”

Pacer bit her lip. “Can’t we just increase our hiatus from tournaments and championships?”

Emperor shook his head. “We can’t. You know how important publicity is to my father.” He deflated, visibly showing his exasperation. “He’s already quite cross with me for having the team on hiatus for this long. He wants us to get back out there as soon as we can, and he has no problem finding a replacement for Eging in the time he’s out.”

Prince furrowed his brows and crossed his arms at mention of his dad. “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to him anyways,” the young boy said, leaning back in his chair, rolling his eyes. “Pearl already makes a ton of money from doing Off The Hook with Marina!”

Emperor shrugged.

Pacer spoke up again. “If we really can’t find any alternatives… Then I guess we really must help Eging choose.” She never showed much emotion on her face, but now she looked very pained. “I really don’t want him to leave, but at the same time, I don’t want him to feel left out.”

“Same here,” Emperor replied. “But I don’t think my father will just let him back on the team anyhow if he hadn’t turfed in a whi-”

“So you’re suggesting that he should go to the academy and leave us?” Prince interrupted. “We can’t just let him go like that! Can’t we just change dad’s mind?!”

“If it were that easy I wouldn’t have said such a thing, dear brother.” Emperor clenched his hand into a fist as a reaction to the tension in the air. It was uncomfortable. He wanted to be upset too, but he couldn’t show it. Even if he wanted to.

“Your brother has a point,” N-Pacer said. “Negotiating with your father is nearly impossible if he doesn’t like what he sees. If we just waited for Eging to finish school to join us again, your father wouldn’t think of him as formidable. He probably would if he went to the private academy, however.” She started thinking of a possible situation that sounded a bit more favourable than others she had thought of before.

“And that’s exactly my point, Prince.” Emperor’s posture sagged in a not-so regal way as he continued his sentence. “We have to do what would be most advantageous to Team Monarch. Not Team “Besties”.”

Prince looked upset. He obviously didn’t want Eging to leave, but he didn’t want him to not be able to join them in turf ever again.

“It’s okay, Prince.” Eging finally said something. “If both Pacer and Emp think that it’s best for us, I’ll go with it.”

Prince looked back to the older inklings. Emperor and Pacer shared the same pensive look. No one in that room wanted Eging to leave Inkopolis. But they didn’t want him to never be able to do turf with them again either. It was clear which was more important in this situation. They were all silent for a few seconds.

“We should probably make the most of the time that we have left with him,” Pacer said. “If he really will be leaving to go to that…  _ stupid _ school, he should enjoy the time he has before leaving…”

Emperor nodded in agreement. “I’m sure our fathers will agree. They may be difficult, but they’re not heartless.”

Eging stood up quickly, and thrust his fist into the air. “So that settles it! We gotta make the most of the time that I have left.” He brought his hand down to his chin in thought. “Where should we go first, then?”

“Back to your house, obviously.” Pacer answered. “We should let your father know of your decision together. Especially because we can provide better emotional support that way.”

“Smart thinking, N-Pacer,” Emperor replied. “I think the team should stay the night at Eging’s penthouse, just so we can do more thinking about what we can do in the time before he has to transfer.

That was Prince’s turn to speak. “Oh! I can bring all sorts of stuff for us to do!” He smiled as he spoke. “We can’t just play video games all night like Jr usually would!”

Eging scoffed. “I haven’t played those games in forever. Plus, I’d rather spend time with you guys this time.”

N-Pacer nodded. “I guess I can bring my crochet kit so I could teach you guys… Or perhaps a chess board?”

Emperor put a hand to his chin and smirked in approval. “Oh, I do love chess dearly. Nice idea, N-Pacer.”

Prince rolled his eyes. “You only love chess because you’re boring and don’t know how to have fun.” He then made a gagging gesture. “You always watch super boring documentaries and movies that are too dull to even be considered movies!”

“He does have a point though, Emp.” Eging said laughingly. “Leave the party planning to me and Prince. We know what’s up.”

“Am I not worthy of party planning either?!” N-Pacer exclaimed playfully, sounding only partially offended.

“Nah,” Eging answered. “You guys both suck.”

  
  


The four inklings laughed together in the lounge, happy that they were all reunited again. Emperor’s driver took them all back to Eging Jr’s house like they had planned. With them, they took board games, DVDs, and other assorted items made for recreation.

The ride back to Eging’s penthouse was quite enjoyable. They caught up a bit, and shared experiences that they had while they were separated. N-Pacer had received many more love confessions, just as she always did with her fans. Prince had become more confident and had made more friends in school. Emperor had gotten into modelling for Enperry. Eging was especially interested in this. He even begged for Emperor to show him a few pictures from the photoshoots he had done. All four of the inklings marvelled at how handsome he was.(Yes, Emperor thinks of himself to be highly attractive, “just as a king should be”.)

However, their delight was short-lived. They returned to Eging’s apartment, only to be greeted by his father.

There were many words to describe the emotions that showed on Eging Sr.’s face. Irritation. Vexation. Displeasure. Exasperation. Ire. But the most obvious one was rage. He was absolutely seething. Emperor, Prince, and N-Pacer were confused. Eging Jr was filled with fear.

But in an instant, his demeanor changed to a calm, and collected one.

“So you brought your friends over this late, huh?” He tilted his head and forced a smile. He focused on the junior Eging’s face only, as if the only people who stood in the doorway were the two of them. There was a fire in his eyes that burned wildly. Like a house on fire that was too intense to be put out.

Eging hesitated before he spoke. Whenever his dad got like this, it never ended well. The night was going to go badly. Very badly. And just when he thought things were about to start looking up, too...

He swallowed. “They just wanted to stay over for the night…” He spoke quietly, feeling small and weak. Weaker than he had ever felt the entire time his life was spiralling downwards. “We decided that I’d go to the academy you were talking about earlier…”

“You did, did you?” Eging Sr.’s tone didn’t change. “Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to tell your team that they won’t be able to stay over, unfortunately.” 

Eging Jr didn’t even bother rejecting his father’s decision. He snapped out of the hold his father had on him that kept him from realising his three other friends were watching. He wondered why they hadn’t said anything this whole time. Was it because they didn’t want to make the situation worse? No, that couldn’t be it. They’ve seen him get beat by his father a multitude of times. Perhaps it was because they were disgusted by how he couldn’t stand up for himself, or even dare to disagree with him. That was sure to be it. They thought that he was a coward. A weakling. A-

“Don’t worry, sir,” Emperor started before Eging could turn around. “We really only came to drop him off. We would never stay over at your house without your permission. Right guys?”

N-Pacer and Prince nodded.

Eging sighed in relief.  _ Nice save, Emp. _

“Since Eging has come home safely, the three of us will be taking our leave,” Emperor said, sounding as professional as ever. He was a master at kissing the asses of adults. It was why they always liked him. Eging wanted to wonder how he got so good at it, but he didn’t have the time to, with how quickly his teammates disappeared down the hall.

Eging Jr swallowed and looked back up to his father, whose face was too hard to read. Before he could even blink, he was roughly being pulled back into the apartment by his arm.He knew that it was definitely going to bruise there.

_ Fight back! _ Thoughts ran through his head at the speed of sound.  _ You can’t just let him hurt you like this! Your friends- _

His thoughts were interrupted when he was thrown to the floor with intense force. The wind was knocked out of him and he coughed. His whole body shook at the action, and he could feel his father’s eyes looking down at him in disgust. When things like this happened, he wanted to die. He wanted to run. He hated when it got like this. He wished his mother was still around. Things were always better when she was there.

“I’ve had enough of you thinking you can do whatever the fuck you want.” Eging Sr kneeled and pulled Eging Jr up to his face by the hem of his shirt. “That’s why you’re this way. ‘Cause you don’t ever listen to me. I leave for 6 months and this is how you repay me for putting a roof over your head? By acting like this?”

Eging Sr was a very big man. Not only in status, but also in physical appearance. He stood tall above many adult inklings, and his strength was outmatched by almost none. Being a pro at ink sports himself, his expectations for his son were nothing short of the highest heights. But with how Eging Jr had been doing lately, it wasn’t hard to overpower the boy. 

“Please…” Eging Jr didn’t realise it, but he was crying. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks, making his face feel numb. He was pathetic. Oh, so pathetic. “I’m sorry… I promise I won’t do it again…”

If only the world was as merciful as beggars wished it to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaa sorry this one is so late! A lot of mental stuff was going on for me so i couldnt really focus on writing this one Dx working hard on the next chapter as i post this! Hopefully it wont take as long as this one LOL. Tw for abuse in the first few paragraphs here.

“You really think you’re sorry, dipshit?” Eging Sr asked harshly. “You’re clearly not sorry. You don’t appreciate any of what I’ve done for you. You’re an embarrassment.”

Eging Jr was already numb to these kinds of words. They didn’t hurt as much as they had used to. He stayed quiet, averting his eyes, trying to look at anything other than the man on top of him. He breathed deeply, trying to suppress the palpitations in his chest.

“Look at me when I speak to you.” Eging Sr grabbed Eging Jr’s chin in his hand, forcing their eyes to meet. Eging Jr felt more afraid. His father had done this times and times again, yet he still felt absolutely terrified.

“This is the punishment that asses like you get.” With one fluid movement, Eging Sr delivered a swift punch into his son’s gut. The impact was so heavy that it caused the boy to cough up blood.

_Yep… That’s a broken rib…_

Eging Jr wanted to scream. It hurt. It hurt a fucking lot. He wished to move away to catch his breath, but it was no use.

Eging Sr’s face didn’t change from the unbridled anger he showed since Emperor and the rest of the team had left. He let Eging Jr go, and stood up. Eging Jr fell onto his side that wasn’t punched a few seconds ago. Eging Sr moved slowly, causing his son to panic more. The boy kept still, waiting until his father broke his gaze with him. Unfortunately, the assault was not over. Eging Sr kicked him square in the middle of his face, and hard. Blood immediately gushed from his nose, causing the both of them to gasp.

“I’ll take you to the hospital,” Eging Sr said, uncaring. “You tell anyone the real story, and you’ll get much worse.”

Eging Jr nodded slowly, not being able to get anything out other than a pained wheeze. He struggled to get up on his own, the pain in his side spreading throughout the rest of him like fire on gasoline. He wanted to cry out. He wanted someone to help him. It was so hard going through this when his dad was around.

“Stop acting like a goddamn baby, and get up already,” his father said, putting on a light jacket. “Christ, I wouldn’t have offered to take you to the ER if I knew you were gonna be this much of a pain in my side.” The statement held a little bit of irony to the situation and he laughed to himself. It was a sick gesture, and Eging Jr knew it was to make him feel worse. He knew his dad didn’t care about him. He just wanted a disciplined heir to the Eging brand.

Waving the thought out of his head, he tried his best to sit up. It hurt like hell. He thought he was going to die. The pain from his nose radiated into the rest of his skull and gave him the worst headache. In all honesty? He would have passed out right there had he not been running on pure adrenaline.

Somehow, he managed to walk to the front of his apartment and stand with his dad, who was picking up the keys to his car from the counter. Everything felt so fuzzy and strange. It was extremely difficult for the younger Eging to stay conscious.

“You better not get any of that blood on my seats.” Eging Sr locked the apartment door behind them as they exited. “You’ll be paying for the cleaning yourself, and I know you don’t have a job.”

Eging Jr rolled his eyes, despite his extreme fatigue. It wasn’t his fault he didn't have a job! His father never let him get one! He knew it was so he could never have control over his income. He wiped the blood away from his nose, leaving a nasty blue stain on his cotton jacket. Yeah, there was no washing that out any time soon.

The ride to the hospital was not enjoyable. It was the opposite. And more. On top of being in the worst pain imaginable at the moment, Eging Sr continued on and on about how much he hated his son’s antics and how he had been acting. He called him ungrateful. He called him a leech. He called him literally any word you could use to describe a waste of life. The words stabbed through the young inkling like sharp knives. He’d been told them so many times before, he thought he’d be used to it by now. But perhaps with how his self esteem was built up with his friends earlier that day, it was easier to knock it down. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to him. It was past 12am.

“Remember what I said if you tell them what really happened.” Eging Sr warned his son as they got out of the car. His face looked extremely menacing. Then quickly, it changed to a neutral, slightly worried one. He was so good at acting, it made Eging Jr sick. 

_If you can act like you care so much, how come you never do?_

The two inklings walked up to the reception desk, and the employee looked startled upon seeing the two. He gasped and his eyes widened. He probably wasn’t expecting to see a celebrity here or ever in his life. Eging Jr just wanted to get medical attention, so he didn’t really care about the man’s reaction.

“My son is badly injured,” the turf pro said. “He says there’s a strong pain in his side and his nose is broken. I think he got into a fight or something, you know how kids are.”

The receptionist smiled and nodded. “We have so many young people coming in for that reason, you know?” He handed the other man the forms needed to stay at the hospital overnight. “Hopefully things will get better for him and for others soon.”

Eging Jr scowled. Things were not going to be getting better soon. He was going to have to spend a night in the hospital and in a month’s time, be shipped off to a boarding school for turf lunatics and not see his friends for a year or two. Not to mention he’d have to deal with his father, alone for God knows how long. He was filled with anger and regret. Nothing would go well for him anymore.

Things happened, and the two inklings were able to be put into a hospital room. It was relatively large, and lit well. The bed was soft and snug. Overall, the room was comfortable. But with all the comfort in the world it didn’t stop the younger Eging from seething on the inside. He wanted to burst, and the dull pain of the IV hooked into his arm didn’t make it any better. He waited until his dad left silently, so he could start crying. He didn’t only cry because of the pain, even if that was one of the reasons. He cried because he missed his friends. He missed his old life. He missed the times when he used to be functional. There were just so many things he longed and ached for and would never have the chance to have ever again.

He cried himself past the point of severe exhaustion and finally fell asleep. 

When he woke up, it was bright. Really bright. The room was covered in the colour of sunlight. The nearly blinding light instantly made him aware of the pain in his face and side. He gritted his teeth and knotted his brows together. God, he wished he could have stayed asleep.

“Wait, I think he’s waking up!” A familiar voice sounded fuzzy in his ears. The sudden noise caused ringing to bounce around in his head.

“Don’t be so loud, Prince.” Another voice hisses.

Oh. So it must have been Prince who was speaking just now.

_Wait, PRINCE WAS JUST SPEAKING?!_

Eging Jr shot up from his laying position and looked around, pure adrenaline pumping through his veins. Around him sat his teammates. He was utterly shocked.

“Why are you guys here?” He asked, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes. “How did you get here?”

“Word gets around,” Emperor said from the corner of the room where he leaned on a wall. “We also had a hunch things wouldn’t have gone well with how your father looked last night.”

Prince nodded. “He was so scary! I don’t know how anyone would be able to deal with him..”

“It’s kind of the same as dealing with N-Pacer on her shark week, so it’s not that difficult,” Eging lightly joked.

N-Pacer proceeded to smack him across the back of his head as hard as she could. She had no regard for his injuries. 

He let out a monotone “Ow.” and rubbed the spot where he had been hit. For a lightweight charger main, she was pretty strong.

The composed girl cleared her throat. “Anyways. It was my idea to come and see if you were here.” She put a hand over Eging’s. “Especially because you didn’t answer my calls this morning. I expected you to have come back to your senses with the conversation the team had yesterday.”

Emperor stood up from his leaning position to come and stand closer to Eging’s bed. “At the same time though,” he started, “you can’t expect him to have fully gone back to normal. Communication is hard, especially when you’re going through things.”

“But he still should have called or texted us goodnight!” Prince said in rebuttal. His face looked a little pouty. “I can’t believe something really did happen to you… I’m really sorry Jr…”

Eging laughed, and immediately regretted it. The pain in his side was like an instant silencer. His face contorted into one that was pained, and went straight back to normal after the sharp pain faded. The rest of Team Monarch looked at him worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a normal thing that happens to people who are hurt.” The boy in the bed spoke sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He laid back down again, savouring the wonderful feeling of the pillows and soft blankets. He was so grateful he was born into money…

N-Pacer spoke up again. “Perhaps we should call a nurse to change what's in those IV fluid bags if you’re still in pain after being hooked up to them so long?”

Eging shook his head. “I’m trying to get discharged today, and I don’t want to have to deal with any weird side effects from this shit.” He sighed, now becoming aware of the weight on his nose from the bandage covering it, and became annoyed. “At the same time, I really don’t wanna go home to the monster of a man waiting for me.”

“We’re so sorry you’re going through so much, Jr.” Emperor took Eging’s other hand, and held it gently, like how he always treated him. “Please remember that none of this nonsense is your fault. We will always be here for you whenever you need it. We’re only a call or text away, remember?”

Prince nodded. “It’s fun talking with you, too! You’re not a burden, we genuinely enjoy your company!”

N-Pacer squeezed Eging’s hand as affirmation. “You mean so much to us… without you we’re just not the same.”

Emperor gasped, realising something.

“Speaking of “us”,” he cleared his throat and looked at the ground with disdain, hesitating. “I talked to my father about the team thing… He said that if you’re not back on the team by next week he would be replacing you. He said he had found someone already, and wanted the three of us to meet them.”

Prince looked even more sad. N-Pacer looked mortified. Neither of them had expected such an outcome so quickly.

“Already?!” Prince raised his voice. “When did you and him even discuss this?!”

“Last night. Around 2AM, he called me. He was so _excited_ to tell me that we would be finding a placeholder for him. That we would _finally_ be able to get back onto the field.”

N-Pacer’s expression changed to disgust. “So that man thinks he can just put on whoever the hell he wants? He thinks he can just choose how Team Monarch is going to work? He doesn’t know how complicated this sport is. He doesn’t know anything.” She was obviously pissed.

“But I-... _we_ have to listen to him, or else,” Emperor responded, quickly catching his small mistake in wording. “Things don’t go well when we oppose him, and I usually have to saddle all the punishment on my own.”

Eging squeezed Emperor’s hand. “It’s okay,” he said, voice cracking. He really wanted to cry again. He didn’t want to leave Team Monarch at all. He wanted to walk with them again. To go to sponsor parties with them again. To do modelling with them again. He regretted everything. He wanted to go back to the time before he fell into severe depression. He wanted to feel happy for a time that didn’t feel so fleeting. He wanted-

“It’s not okay, Jr.” N-Pacer spoke over his thoughts. “You’re part of what makes our team our team! Regardless of the fact that we’ll be missing your skill, we’ll have to change all of our strategy! This isn’t a simple exchange, why must your father-“

“Pacer…” Prince spoke softly. “I really don’t want Jr to leave either, but..!” Tears that shone like diamonds in the morning light welled in his eyes and threatened to spill onto his soft cheeks. “I don’t want to lose the team if we say no… You know our dad is the one who funds all of this…”

N-Pacer was on the verge of tears too. Emperor was already crying.

“I wish all of this wasn’t so goddamned hard for us,” Emperor choked. “I’m so, so, sorry Eging. This is all my fault. I failed to be a good leader when I noticed your condition was worsening. I failed to be a friend… Now we are all going to suffer because of this stupid mistake…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Eging’s voice was really cracking now. All his teammates were crying and he didn’t want to make the mood any worse. “We can spend forever regretting the past, but we have to think about what’s coming next, y’know?” That statement was heavily hypocritical. Eging was the one who wallowed in regret every day before he got put in here.

Emperor nodded. “You’re right,” he said, sniffling. “By preparing to accept whatever my father throws at us is preparing for your return. We just have to wait it out.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right, you two.” Pacer wiped the tears out of her eyes swiftly, and adjusted her face back to her signature poker kind. “Even if we probably won’t get to spend much time with him before he leaves, we can take comfort in the time we have with him now.”

Prince didn’t say anything in reply. He rested his head on Eging’s legs, sniffling. Eging assumed that the boy must have been a little embarrassed, and didn’t want the rest of the team to see him crying. He smiled a little at the thought of such a small boy being so prideful.

The rest of the day went fine. Eging Sr managed to get Jr discharged by that evening. The pain had not left him, but he had painkillers to help relieve him when he got home.

Somehow, the whole drive home, he had not managed to anger his dad once. Even when they arrived at the penthouse, his father managed to leave him be and abscond to his room(that was usually locked when he wasn’t home) without saying a single word to his son. Eging Jr preferred this version of his dad much more, even if his behaviour still caused him some emotional pain.

The next day, Eging decided that that day would be the day he finally cleaned his room. He wouldn’t be going to school the next week, he thought, so he should take advantage of the free time he had. In the middle of cleaning, his nanny knocked on the door, telling him that his father wanted to see him in the living room so they could have an important chat. Eging Jr sighed heavily, hoping that this “chat” wouldn’t turn violent, especially with how he was still recovering. He put the dirty clothes he held into the hamper in the corner of his room and stepped out into the hall, and into the living room. He didn’t expect to see his dad sitting there so casually, fiddling with a rubix cube.

The sight of the rubix cube pained him. His mother loved items such as those. He remembered playing brain games with her when he was younger, admiring her intellect. It all brought back memories of the times before his dad became whatever he was today.

“Sit.” Eging Sr commanded, his voice calm. “It’s about your new school.”

Eging Jr did as he was told, and sat at the loveseat across from the sofa his dad seated himself upon. He twiddled his fingers in his lap, anxious about the news he was going to be told. He bit his lip, already hoping for the worst when he averted his gaze from anywhere in his father’s direction.

“You’re leaving the city next week. On Tuesday.” Eging Sr didn’t bother to even look up at his son, as he was too busy with the toy in his hands to care. “You better be fully packed by Monday night or you’ll be late.”

 _Monday night?! Leaving on Tuesday?!_ Eging Jr was so surprised he didn’t know what to say. Today was Saturday! That barely gave him any time to spend with his friends before he left!

“But why..?” Eging asked, his voice a squeak in his throat because of the anxiousness.

“For a lot of reasons, actually.” Eging Sr finally looked up, but only to give the younger Eging an unimpressed look. “For one, your grades aren’t going to be improving at all in the school you’re in, hm? You and I both know that.”

He looked back down at the cube in his hands. “Executive Houzuki also called me. He said that even though he’ll be getting a replacement for you on that Monarch team of yours, he still wants you back in the future. He said he’d welcome you with open arms if your state improved.”

Eging Jr gasped, feeling some kind of relief. He slouched onto the back of the loveseat behind him, exhaling deeply.

“Plus, you’re the son of _The_ Nautis Eging. Of course they’d open up a spot for you at the drop of the hat at that school. I’d rather continue training you on my own, but I’ve heard good things about that place. You’re very gifted at turfing, so I know it’ll be easy as pie for you once you get there.”

Absolutely dumbfounded, Eging Jr had no idea what to say. He just sat there with his mouth hanging open. On top of the fact his father hadn’t raised his voice at him at all, he had complimented him too? This was a lot for him to take in. He was going to be leaving the city on Tuesday and had to be ready to leave by Monday night. That would only leave him with two days to hang out with his friends before they left!

The older Eging let out a stale chuckle. “I know what you’re thinking, boy.” Finally he had solved the rubix cube puzzle, and put it aside. “I’m not allowing you to go and see your friends before you leave. In that time you’ll be thinking about your actions and what you’ve done. Maybe then you’ll learn not to slack so fucking hard.” He got up from where he sat, and returned to his room without saying anything else after that. Eging Jr was partially relieved at that. He sat alone at the couch for a little while, thinking about what he was going to do when he got to the school. He didn’t even know what it was named yet for God’s sake! Before doing anything else, though, he pulled his phone from his pocket and started calling Emperor.

Fortunately, Emperor picked up the phone almost immediately, only letting it ring twice or thrice.

“Hello Eging,” Emperor spoke in the cool, regal tone he usually had. “I pray you’re doing well.”

“Hey Emp…” Eging sighed his name in the most dramatic but genuine way he could. “I’m doing fine. Just a little exhausted is all.”

A loud clanging noise was heard over the receiver. “Is it anything you want to talk about? I can always come over if your dad allows it. Or you can come over here. I can personally come and pick you up if you want to go out togeth-“

“That’s kinda what I was callin’ ya for, Emperor…”

“You want to go out together? Oh my, I should just finish packing up this meal already so we can finally hang out~”

“No, I mean that’s literally the thing. I can’t go out with you because my dad said I was forbidden.”

“That’s fine! We can always choose another day!”

“And I’m leaving on Tuesday.”

The sound of glass shattering, along with a loud splattering sound was the only thing heard from Emperor’s side of the phone. 

“TUESDAY?!” The older squid shrieked. “YOU’RE LEAVING THIS FUCKING TUESDAY?!” He wasn’t showing any signs of calming down.

All that Eging could do was just frown as he looked at Emperor’s caller ID while walking back to his room so the call could be more private.

“Emp, I’m really sorry,” he tried to reason. “You know I can’t argue with my dad… you know what happens.”

Sighing, Emperor replied exasperatedly. “Don’t worry, Jr. I was just really surprised. Now I have to clean up the mess I made dropping this casserole… If N-Pacer she would give me the scolding of a lifetime.” He chuckled to himself. “I can’t believe we’re being ripped from each other so painfully.”

“At least I’ll be able to get home sooner, maybe?”

“Hopefully.” The warm smile Emperor was probably wearing was audible.

Eging Jr then heard a comically loud gasp over the phone, and it was definitely not Emperor’s. He assumed it was N-Pacer’s, knowing that she had been staying over at his place for a while.

“She’s found me out, and I’m sure she’s going to scold me for real. I’ll call you back later today!” He hung up abruptly after that.

The lonely inkling flopped onto his bed, checking the time on his phone. It was still early in the afternoon. The bright sunlight from outside filtered into his room through the gaps in the blinds and curtains, so he didn’t need to turn a light on in his room when entering. He sucked in a deep breath, and hot tears streamed down his face. He was going to be leaving his friends so early. He didn’t even get to say goodbye to them properly. He felt ultimately cheated. He hated his father with all the energy he had in his body. Feeling utterly helpless, he turned onto his side, and cried some more. His body shook with each hoarse exhale he gave while he struggled not to cry out loud. 

_It’s so unfair,_ he thought.

 _Why me,_ he thought.

He was oh, so tired of being alone. He was so tired of being forced into unnecessary struggle. With everything in him he wished that he could have just been normal, or at least better at not letting his problems get to him. He wished that he could be stronger. He wished to go back to the times where he had seemingly endless amounts of fun with his teammates. He wished, and wished and wished… All until he cried himself into a dreamless, but peaceful sleep.


End file.
